


child of autumn.

by ReverseTides



Category: Moonshadow (Comic), Original Work
Genre: Child Abandonment, Denial, Don't worry it gets better, Found Family, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Moonshadow - Freeform, Nonbinary Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-07
Updated: 2019-08-07
Packaged: 2020-08-11 02:03:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20145763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReverseTides/pseuds/ReverseTides
Summary: They didn't understand why, but they knew their parents weren't returning. That was okay. It was okay. Kai could make it on their own.It was a story, a fairytale, and Kai was determined to choose their own end.





	child of autumn.

There once was a brother and sister who got lost and used breadcrumbs and somehow beat a witch in a house of food.

They remembered that much of the story: a tale of a brother and sister whom occasionally were wronged by their parents and other times just lost. It depended who told it. Their dad at least had always opted for the first: probably to scare them into behaving. Kai didn’t see the point of that; they were a decent enough kid. They’d never really focused on the beginning of the story either, but on the trail of breadcrumbs and how the stupid squirrels always ate anything they threw for birds and how there was a house of gingerbread in the story which animals, somehow, didn’t already eat.

It didn’t make sense, but thinking about it, they could really go for a gingerbread house. Even if gingerbread was disgusting.

Kai sat on a fallen tree trunk, halfway propped off of the ground. The distance between themselves and the ground was taller than their height, and they debated dropping. Their stomach was growling and it’d felt like forever since they were told to wait. Waiting was boring. Waiting  _ hurt _ . They wanted to go home and hide in the closet with the lights dimmed, where they could pretend to be Mothman waiting in the dusk, or a ghost about to spook a young white couple in a horror film. 

But  _ no _ . They were told they had to wait.

So they would wait.

About a minute and forty seconds passed before they gave up on that sentiment and stood up, taking a moment to steady themselves. The tree was sturdy enough and Kai doubted they could move something so heavy without jumping at least three times. But why risk it? They looked at their options: go upward on the tree and probably scrape their legs again, go down and probably trip over roots, or jump off of the thing to try and stick the landing ala-Spiderman. 

Then a blue butterfly flew past, upwards of the tree, and Kai’s mind was set: they spread their arms for balance and dashed after the unsuspecting creature, almost slipping a few times, though the distance they had to run was short enough to avoid falling. The butterfly was out of sight by the time they reached the higher segment of land, though that didn’t matter.

They heard the rushing of water and saw a dip in the land, a grin crossing their face. So maybe they were a little thirsty. 

A little was an understatement; they darted around the trees, almost tripping several times, and contracting poison oak at least once, though they didn’t really care. It was their fault for wearing shorts. Kai stopped running just short of the creek and spotted a fallen flower drifting downstream, and trailed after it, along the side of the creek, their thirst momentarily forgotten in favor of the pretty purple blossom.

It wasn’t something they recognized, granted, their knowledge of flowers extended from weeds to not-weeds. The presumably not-weed drifted downward, tumbling through a miniature series of waterfalls they were pretty sure were rapids, though not as deadly, and Kai stumbled through the weeds on the bank while they were following. The weeds stemmed into cattails they had to push past, as the ground grew consistently muddier, not that they minded. So their legs were wet and their mom would probably yell at them or smack them again; Kai didn’t understand why grown-ups made such a big fuss over a little wet dirt. It was just the ground and everyone had to walk on it, so what was the big deal of their legs being dirty instead of just their shoes? Seriously.

The cattails faded into obscurity while they passed as other plants they couldn’t name if they tried joined the fray. They were pretty sure they’d seen a few of those plants under herbs in the supermarket, though they didn’t know which ones were which, and didn’t want to get sick in their parents’ car when they brought them back home. Like that would go over well.

Kai stuck out their tongue at the thought, their nose scrunched up in disgust. They’d probably have to clean it out themselves and they weren’t dealing with that again.

The creek had forked off and the flower veered right. Kai, on the left of the creek, looked after it longingly and frowned though they didn’t bother to cross. Instead, they waved the flower goodbye and trekked onwards. 

A cold wind blew through the wood and Kai shivered, rubbing their arms. It wasn’t too late in the day. The car said nine-something when Kai unloaded their backpack and their parents told them to wait while they went back for the tent. So it couldn’t be too late. If anything, the day should’ve been getting warmer. Unless…

They looked at the creek and noticed a few ripples in the pond and swallowed. That wasn’t so bad. But then there were more, and then, more. A droplet hit Kai’s arm and they mumbled, “crap.” 

The playfulness of the forest, its magic, seemed to fade into malevolence. The air held that seem press of danger that their house did when their dad ran low on cigarettes or their mom had a few drinks too many, when one false move could fill them with an arsenal of lies and stories to tell their teacher. They were careful in their step, as if the forest itself might lash back, and they picked up a larger stick from the ground, carved of its bark. Kai tapped at the ground in front of them, only walking when it didn’t sink.

They knew quicksand was unlikely in Washington but they had to be prepared. Anything was possible. 

Even a house of gingerbread, apparently, as they noticed a clearing in the distance and with it, a light-brown building. They tapped against the ground and crossed the “safe” patches- knowing that they all were safe, though testing it was always smart- until coming across the grass before the house. They scanned for a sidewalk- walking on someone’s lawn was apparently  _ rude _ \- but when they saw none and the rain drizzled down on them, Kai dashed for the door.

It wasn’t gingerbread; it was just brown. It didn’t smell like it and it wasn’t melting. But that didn’t matter. It was waterproof.  _ That _ mattered. 

They pushed at the doorknob to no avail, before thinking to pull it, and then they darted inside, slamming the door shut.

In the story, they remembered an old hag, an oven, and lots of candy, though both sadly and not-sadly, the little cottage held none of those things. Where it lacked in candy it amassed in  _ books _ . The threat of the rain aside, Kai kicked off their shoes and gawked at the filled-shelves. 

They were allowed maybe three books at the time. This? This was more than their small, underfunded school could possibly dream of. 

Kai crossed over to the first shelf and grabbed the first book they could reach: _Initia_ _Aevorum_, though the cover was missing and its title foreign. So they grabbed the next book, thicker, entitled the _Necronomicon_. They sat down.

And they read.

\---

It was more than they could understand, though they vowed to try to, someday. Not just those two books, but all of them: their words were big, yes, but they had time before their parents came. 

Their parents had forgotten them for  _ hours _ at school more time than they could count. Whether it be because they were fighting or had guests over, it was normal for Kai to twiddle their thumbs in the principal’s office while they waited. The principal’s office was boring, and they’d read every non-old-man magazine they could grab onto in there. Here, however, was different. They could last for a while.

Maybe their parents could just bring them McDonalds. Kai would be fine with staying a while. 

No one was ever home at home. This was no different.

\---

They were a quarter-way through an older book they found when their stomach grumbled for the upteenth time that day, and Kai glanced up, looking through the window. The rain was gone, but night had set in. It was too late to try to stab a fish.

They faced the book down and paced about the cottage. There was nothing there that resembled a refrigerator, so they rummaged through drawers, finding drawers of labeled plants from outside, though no food, unless they were edible. Kai would find a flower book later and check which ones they could eat that wouldn’t give them a stomachache. 

Eventually in their rummaging they thought to look above and into the cupboards, where, thankfully, there was what  _ looked _ like a week of stored food.

Kai looked outside, to the books, then to the cupboard.

They could last a week.

Their parents would come back before then. The two had work in a couple of days. Kai had school with Mrs. Johnson in a couple of days. They  _ had _ to pick them up before school. There were two birthdays coming up, which meant two rounds of cupcakes! They weren’t missing on that, even if it meant reading they could read the excessive supply they’d discovered. No matter how tempting it was.

Kai could last a week with the books and the food.

They  _ would _ .

\---

The food lasted a week and a half, actually, and the water they’d found in another cupboard wasn’t looking like it would run out for another.

Their parents hadn’t shown up yet.

Kai was a little worried, though maybe they’d strayed too far. That didn’t make sense though. They’d ruffled up some loose leaf paper and wrote a sign:  _ Kai is here _ . It was still propped against the window, and in big letters too. There was no way they didn’t see it.

Maybe they were just busy.

Kai’s stomach grumbled and they held it with their arms.

They had to just be busy.

\---

They’d munched on leaves for the past few days, and weren’t feeling all too well. Moving around to collect them hurt more than it should’ve, and Kai laid back against the ground between a few more books and a pile of what were apparently waterlilies that they’d collected from outside. 

Their stomach hurt. 

Their mouth was dry.

And they were out of water.

Kai closed their eyes, and pulled one of the flowers closer, taking in the light smell, as if that would rid them of their nausea. Their mouth watered but they pulled the flower away. It probably wasn’t safe to eat. They didn’t want to try it, not after they’d tried the dandelion leaves and a few others near it. Their stomach growled. They felt faint. 

The door opened.

They saw the shadow. They heard a gasp, footsteps, but sleep beckoned; their body betrayed them. They slept.

  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> This first chapter was originally written May 18th of 2018; I'll update this with an edited version later on, as well as post regular chapters surrounding Kai Lythrop and their exploration of Desperation Pass.


End file.
